Because of the coexistence of diverse access networks (cellular networks, wireless local area networks), mobile terminals must increasingly be associated with more than one access network. There quickly arises the question of the best access technology to use, as a function of the requirements of users, the intrinsic characteristics of the technologies concerned, and dynamic information such as the loads on the access networks.
At present, when a multi-access terminal wishes to be connected to a new access network, for example an IEEE 802.11 type access network, information to the effect that the terminal is already connected to a first access network (for example a UMTS access network) could be stored in a mobility manager, generally situated either in the core network of one of the access networks or externally of the access networks. To do this, the mobility manager would have to maintain databases containing data on all the terminals and their association with different networks.
However, an access point may need such information for a specific terminal requesting to be associated with it, for example if an operator has a plurality of access networks and wishes to control the resources used in each of them. The access point does not have direct access to this information at the time of the association request.
Consequently, an access point cannot take account of information about the association of a terminal with other access networks when deciding to accept or reject an association request from a terminal. Admitting a terminal to an access point requires resources for servicing the terminal to be allocated or provisioned. Information about the association of a terminal with other access networks enables the access point to manage its resources better by not admitting terminals that could use resources other than those of that access point, in order to be able to service other terminals that have requirements that can be serviced by that access point alone.